Shanghai woman uncovers $2.8 million hidden transfers by late husband to mistress, takes legal action

Chinese woman discovers husband’s secret transfers to mistress. (Representative image/Reuters)

• Shanghai woman wins lawsuit over husband's secret affair and 19M yuan transfers
• Court orders mistress to return 14 million yuan to wife as marital assets
• Appeal by mistress rejected, original judgment affirmed

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A Chinese woman was shocked to discover that her late husband had secretly maintained a long-term affair and transferred nearly 20 million yuan to his mistress, according to the South China Morning Post. The revelation came after his death, triggering a legal battle.

Shen, based in Shanghai, tied the knot with her late husband Jin in July 1999. The couple had two children – a son and a daughter, and their family appeared stable.

Affair and financial transfer

After over two decades of marriage, Jin passed away in May 2022. While she was going through the personal belongings following his death, Shen discovered her late husband's secret affair. She found that her husband had been in a relationship with a woman named Tao since 2015.

Shaken by the revelation, she also found financial records showing over 19 million yuan had been secretly transferred to Tao in a span of seven years.

Shen's took legal action

Following the uncovering of the transfer, Shen, along with her children, launched legal proceedings against Tao.  They filed a lawsuit asking Tao to return the gifts and money, claiming they were marital assets and had been transferred without Shen’s knowledge.

During the initial hearing, the court ruled in favour of Shen, determining that Jin’s decision to transfer such a large amount of marital property was not valid and unlawful. Considering that Tao had already returned 5.4 million yuan to Jin before his death, the court directed her to pay the remaining 14 million yuan to Shen.

The court ruled that Jin’s affair and the transfers of money infringed on Shen’s legal rights and went against public morals, SCMP reported.

Tao challenged court's verdict

Tao filed an appeal against the verdict, but the Shanghai First Intermediate People’s Court rejected her appeal, affirming the original judgment.

The court held that Jin’s extramarital affair and financial transfer had violated Shen’s legal rights, further stating that Jin’s actions violated public morals and social ethics.